Liu Jindong () (December 9, 1981 in Qingdao, Shandong) is a former Chinese international football player who played as a versatile player capable of playing in defense or

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

. With Shandong Luneng he had won several domestic league and cup trophies with them before becoming the team's captain at the start of the 2010 league season where he would go on to lead the team to the league title.

Club career

Liu Jindong started his professional football career in 2001 for Shandong Luneng after he graduated from their youth team. In his first season for Shandong he was able to play in seven games before establishing himself the following season where he played a further nineteen games. Due to his versatility he has been able to establish himself as a regular member of the team since and has helped Shandong win the 2006 and 2008 league titles. By the 2009 league season he would settle within defense and was given the vice-captaincy role within the club; however, the team's captain Shu Chang would suffer several long-term injury problems throughout season, and Liu Jindong spent the majority as the team's captain. When new manager

Branko Ivanković Branko Ivanković (; born 28 February 1954) is a Croatian former footballer who played as a midfielder, and the current manager of the Oman national team. After a 12-year playing career at Varteks, Ivanković started his coaching career at the ...

arrived at the club at the beginning of the 2010 league season, he decided to make Liu his permanent captain, and this seemed to have worked, as Shandong would go on to win the league title at the end of season.

International career

Liu Jindong received his international debut against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

in a 0–0 friendly match draw on August 20, 2003, where he played in midfield. Under Chinese manager

Arie Haan Arend "Arie" Haan (; born 16 November 1948) is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He scored 6 goals in 35 matches for the Netherlands national team of the 1970s. At club level, he enjoyed a successful career ...

, Liu Jindong was able to gain regular playing time for the national team and would even score his first international goal on December 11, 2003, in an

East Asian Cup EAFF E-1 Football Championship, known as the East Asian Football Championship from 2003 to 2010, and the EAFF East Asian Cup for the 2013 and 2015 editions, is a men's international football competition in East Asia for member nations of the Eas ...

game vs

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. Despite playing in several friendlies leading up to the

2004 AFC Asian Cup The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. The defending champ ...

he was not picked in the final squad to play in the tournament, with

Zhou Haibin Zhou Haibin (; born 19 July 1985) is a retired Chinese professional footballer who spent the majority of his playing career at Chinese Super League club Shandong Luneng. Club career Early career In October 1999, Zhou Haibin joined Shandong Lun ...

preferred. When Arie Haan left the Chinese team his replacement

Zhu Guanghu Zhu Guanghu (; born September 25, 1949 in Shanghai, China) is a Chinese football coach and a former player. As a player, he was predominantly remembered for his time at Shanghai Football Team before going into management where he started of ...

completely left Liu Jindong out of all of his squads and this was to continue under

Vladimir Petrović Vladimir Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Владимир Петровић, ; born 1 July 1955) is a Serbian football manager and former player. He is widely known domestically by his nickname Pižon ( sr, Пижон), after the French for ''pigeon''. C ...

. Liu Jindong would have to wait five years until

Gao Hongbo Gao Hongbo (; born January 25, 1966 in Beijing) is a retired Chinese football striker and head coach of China League One side Beijing Enterprises. He previously managed the China national football team from 2009 to 2011, and in 2016. Appoint ...

came in before he made his return in a friendly match against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

in a 1–1 draw on May 29, 2009. He would continue to re-establish himself when he played in another friendly against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

in another friendly match, which China lost 4–1 on June 4, 2009.

Honours

Club

Shandong Luneng Shandong Taishan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Jinan, Shandong and their home stadium is ...

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

: 2006,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Chinese FA Cup The Chinese FA Cup (, abbreviated as CFA Cup) is the national knockout cup competition in China organized by the Chinese Football Association. Its current holders are Shandong Taishan, having beaten Shanghai Port in 2021 for a record seventh ti ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, 2006,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Chinese Super League Cup The Chinese Super League Cup () was a football tournament in China held for two years from 2004 until 2005. History Chinese Super League Cup was established in the inaugural season of the Chinese Super League (CSL) as a supplementary tournamen ...

Individual

* CFA Young Player of the Year: 2003

References

External links

Player stats
at Football-lineups website *

at Asian Red Dragons Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Jindong 1981 births Living people Footballers from Qingdao Chinese footballers China international footballers Shandong Taishan F.C. players Chinese Super League players Association football defenders Association football midfielders